The Ants and the Honey

A group of ants were investigating a store cupboard one day when they came across a jar of spilled honey.

Excited about the marvellous find, most of them waded in to enjoy its sweetness, and eat as much as they could.

One ant however, stood at the edge of the pool of honey, and ate just enough to satisfy herself. She then went off to see if she could find anything to take back to the nest.

A while later she returned, to find her comrades still standing in the honey.  All were moaning and wailing.  “Help, we are stuck, we were too greedy and thoughtless, now our fragile legs are stuck and we can’t escape.”

“I cannot help you without putting myself in danger, and with you all stuck here I need to take food back to the nest for others.”

When you encounter abundance take care not to overindulge and become thoughtless of others.

The Four Oxen and the Lion

Once there were four oxen, who became strong friends.  When in the open field they always kept close to each other and fed together.

A lion often saw them and had a mind to make one his prey. He could easily have subdued any one of them singly.  However, as soon as the oxen spotted him, they would group together in such a way that their tails were touching and their heads faced outwards, like the points on a compass.  This meant that whichever way the lion approached he was faced with horns, and it was too difficult for him to make an attack.

The lion realised that his plans were useless whilst the group held strong, so by whispers and hints he set doubts and arguments among the four.  This strategy worked well, the oxen grew cold and reserved towards each other, and eventually this turned to hatred and aversion which resulted in them taking up solitary positions in each corner of the field. 

Now the lion could successfully strike - it had been impossible for him to hurt the oxen whilst they were united, but now divided he was able to capture all four.

When we collaborate, we are strong, and the results are better than if we work to the same end independently.  ‘Teamwork makes the dream work’ as the saying goes, but keeping the team strong takes continuous effort, beware the motives of those who try to break up a successful team.